Department for Transport

Hammersmith Bridge

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential merits of funding the restoration and reopening of Hammersmith Bridge as part of the forthcoming Spring Statement.

Trudy Harrison: The repair and reopening of Hammersmith bridge to all users, including motor vehicles, remains a government priority. The fourth extraordinary funding settlement reaffirms this position.We have this week announced a multi-million-pound funding package for vital restoration works to Hammersmith Bridge, confirming we will fund one third of the costs to stabilise the structure. Almost £3 million will be injected into the project by the Government, so that it remains permanently open to pedestrians, cyclists and river traffic. This comes ahead of further strengthening works to open it up to motorists, and takes total Government funding for the bridge’s restoration to nearly £7 million.

THINK! Campaign

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the success of the Think! campaign to encourage the safety of road users.

Trudy Harrison: In 2012, THINK! won a prestigious IPA Effectiveness award for its work in demonstrating how 30 years of drink drive communications saved nearly 2,000 lives. This analysis highlights the impact and effectiveness of communications in changing behaviour. The award paper is here: THINK! IPA Award paperCampaign performance and impact is continually assessed with each burst of activity supported by pre and post campaign research. Campaign effectiveness is measured across each behaviour through monitoring attitudinal measures including risk, acceptability and normalcy. Campaign metrics including reach and engagement as well as awareness and outcome measures, including claimed action taken as a result of the campaign, are also monitored and reported.Following its launch in 2017, the THINK! Mates Matter strategy led to a ten percentage point increase in the number of young men agreeing that it is unacceptable to let a friend drive after drinking (56% to 66%). This increase followed the first burst of activity and is the biggest shift in young men’s attitudes towards drink driving in more than a decade.The THINK! brand is recognised by more than three quarters (77%) of the general public, and the vast majority (87%) continue to view the brand positively. 73% of males 17-30 recognise the brand (88% positive).

Bus Services

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to encourage the public to make greater use of bus travel following the covid-19 outbreak.

Trudy Harrison: The Department is working closely with operators and local transport authorities to support measures to increase passenger safety and confidence, and encourage a return to the bus and rail networks.We published the National Bus Strategy in March 2021, setting out how we want to see bus services transformed, and all local areas in England outside London have published Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs). There will be £3 billion of investment in buses across this Parliament, including £1.2 billion of dedicated funding for bus transformation deals.

P&O Ferries: Licensing

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if will he remove the licence of P&O to operate its routes in and out of the UK.

Robert Courts: The Secretary of State instructed that a total examination be carried out of any contracts in place with P&O Ferries and DP World across Government. Before any action is taken, we need to have a clear understanding of exactly what has happened which is what we are doing right now.We are therefore reviewing such contracts as a matter of urgency, and where possible, we are looking to use other providers in the market.We are also considering further steps we might take to remove P&O Ferries’ influence within British maritime, including positions on key advisory groups.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Electricity and Natural Gas: Prices

Bob Seely: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of price variations in the cost of units of gas and electricity between low use and high use periods; and what assessment his Department has made of the effect of that matter on average domestic fuel bills.

Greg Hands: The setting of tariff rates, including the price variation between peak and off-peak periods for time-of-use tariffs such as Economy 7 is a commercial matter for individual supply companies. Electricity-only households who are on their supplier’s default or standard variable tariffs are protected by the energy price cap. The price cap methodology used by Ofgem enables a separate rate to be set for households who heat their homes using electric storage heaters. These households will also receive £200 discount on their electricity bill this autumn, as part of the Government’s package of support worth £9.1 billion to help domestic energy customers with the cost of rising energy bills.

Energy: Meters

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with Ofgem to ensure that rural areas are not disadvantaged by comparison to urban areas during the Smart Meter roll-out.

Greg Hands: The Government wants households and small businesses to benefit from smart metering and is working closely with Ofgem on the smart meter rollout. The Data Communications Company (DCC), which operates the national communications infrastructure for smart metering, is obligated under the conditions of its licence to provide communications coverage to at least 99.25% of premises. The DCC also has a licence condition to strive to achieve 100% coverage where it is technically practicable and cost proportionate. Ofgem is responsible for regulating the DCC.

Energy: Billing

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what mechanism his Department used to ensure that the £200m in CFD payments made to the Low Carbon Contracts Company by renewables generators between September 2021 and February 2022 was passed through to consumers as energy bill savings.

Greg Hands: Due to current high energy prices, the Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC) has temporarily stopped collecting the compulsory levy from suppliers which funds the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme. CfD generators have instead paid approximately £205 million back into the scheme from September 2021 to March 2022 inclusive. LCCC returned around £40 million of this to suppliers at the last quarterly reconciliation, with suppliers leaving the balance on account with LCCC to meet future liabilities towards funding the cost of the scheme. This ensures that consumers do not pay higher CfD support costs during periods of high electricity prices.

Research: Finance

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment has been made of how the model of collaborative funding for covid-19 research at pace can be used to fund other research areas.

George Freeman: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Strangford on 15 February 2022 to Question UIN 119577.

Cancer: Medical Treatments

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps his Department has taken to support research into cancer immune therapies.

George Freeman: Medical Research Council, as part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funds research relevant to cancer immune therapies as part of its wider cancer portfolio. Development of cancer vaccines and immune therapies, including immune-oncology work into Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-T) approaches and immunotherapies, is funded through MRC’s research boards, panels and Unit and Institutes. For example, research into cancer immune therapies have been supported through MRC’s Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme such as research taking place at Great Ormond Street Hospital which is aiming to use novel base editing techniques to develop new CAR-T approaches to treat Leukemia in Children. In addition, research at Queen Mary, University of London is looking at Tumour-targeting oncolytic viruses, a new class of therapeutic that has shown immense promise in clinical trials for a number of different cancers and provide a promising platform for development of curative therapies for pancreatic cancer. MRC has also supported research through its Units including research at the MRC Clinical Trials Unit which is focusing on new drugs including immune-oncology drugs, and artificial intelligence technologies to improve cancer treatments. There is also research at the MRC Toxicology Unit looking at using new technologies to better understand the immune system and to investigate how and why toxicity develops. This knowledge will help to design interventions that make immune therapies safer and more widely available. MRC always welcomes high quality applications for support into any aspect of human health and these are judged in open competition with other demands on funding. Awards are made according to their scientific quality and importance to human health.

Horizon Europe

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress has been made on the ratification of the UK’s association with the EU’s Horizon Europe programme.

George Freeman: The UK stands ready to formalise our association to EU programmes at the earliest opportunity. The UK raised the ongoing delays at the EU-UK Specialised Committee on Participation in Union Programmes in December. In this meeting the EU confirmed that they were unwilling to move on UK association due to broader political issues. The minutes from this meeting can be found on gov.uk. We continue to push the EU to formalise our association to Horizon Europe as soon as possible. We recognise that the EU’s delays to the UK’s association have led to uncertainty for researchers, businesses and innovators based in the UK. In order to provide reassurance, the Government guaranteed funding for the first wave of eligible successful applicants to Horizon Europe. On 15 March, the Government announced an extension of the guarantee to a second wave of eligible, successful applicants to ensure that important international collaborations can continue and to provide reassurance for future collaborations. This guarantee protects researchers whether we associate to Horizon Europe, or not. The Government’s position remains to associate and we will continue to do everything we can, but the UK cannot wait indefinitely. If the UK is unable to associate to Horizon Europe soon, and in time to make full use of the opportunities it offers, we are committed to introducing a comprehensive alternative programme of international science, research and innovation collaborations. These will focus on both immediate stability for the sector, with short-term mitigations including the guarantee of funding for successful Horizon applicants, and a bold and ambitious longer-term offer that delivers many of the benefits of Horizon association, and additional benefits, through wider global participation, and even stronger industry and SME engagement.

Research: Government Assistance

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department has taken to develop the UK R&D Roadmap into the forthcoming R&D Plan.

George Freeman: Published in July 2020, the R&D Roadmap set out the Government’s vision and ambition for the next chapter for UK research and development.BEIS is focusing on implementation and delivery of the Roadmap and of subsequent strategies, such as the Innovation and People and Culture Strategies. The objectives of the Roadmap are also being driven through the independently led Reviews of Research Bureaucracy and the Research, Development and Innovation Organisational Landscape.The Department recently received its largest ever R&D budget at SR21 – £39.8bn over the SR period. We have now set out how funding will be allocated across our partner organisations over the next three years.We have also announced the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), for which the Government has committed £800 million to by 2025/2026 to fund high-risk high-reward research.

Business: EU Countries

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of UK companies that have set up EU businesses and registered for EU VAT numbers in (a) 2022 as of 17 March 2022 and (b) each of the last four years.

Paul Scully: The Department does not collect this data.

Companies House: Reform

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Autumn 2021 Budget, how much and what proportion of the £63 million committed to Companies House reform has been spent as of 17 March 2022.

Paul Scully: The £63 million allocated to Companies House at the Autumn 2021 Budget is to be spent across the Spending Review period of 2022-2025, which will begin at the start of the forthcoming financial year.

Companies House: Staff

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by Companies House in each year since 2015.

Paul Scully: The average full time equivalent of staff employed by Companies House since 2014/15, including projections until 2024/25 are: Financial Year2014-152015-162016-172017-182018-192019-202020-212021-222022-232023-242024-25FTE8548108328498849289991040119911821143 2021/22 is provided as a year to date average to the end of February 2022

Companies House: Finance

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the annual budget for Companies House (a) was in each year since 2015 and (b) is for each year until 2024.

Paul Scully: The total departmental expenditure limits for Companies House since 2014/15 until 2024/25 areFinancial Year 2014-152015-16  2016-17  2017-18  2018-19 2019- 20  2020- 21  2021- 22  2022-23  2023- 24  2024- 25  Budget £ 6.00m £ 5.40m £ 9.40m £ 7.50m £ 7.40m £ 14.30m £ 34.20m £ 33.10m £ 38.40m £ 33.90m £ 40.80m   Companies House recovers the majority of its costs through fees, therefore it’s departmental expenditure limits are set net of its income.

Companies: Registration

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his timetable is for implementing the changes to Companies House proposed in the Corporate Transparency and Register Reform White Paper.

Paul Scully: The Government has committed to legislating on register reform in the next session of this parliament. The proposed changes will be implemented as expeditiously as possible thereafter.

Department of Health and Social Care

Dental Services: Hertford and Stortford

Julie Marson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many dental practices in Hertford and Stortford constituency have applied for part of the £50 million funding intended to support the creation of more dentistry appointments.

Maria Caulfield: The information is not held centrally.

Pharmacy: General Practitioners

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with community pharmacists on how that profession can (a) support GPs and (b) help relieve the pressures on GP waiting lists.

Maria Caulfield: We are currently negotiating with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee on the expanded and additional services to be introduced in the fourth year of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework. The Framework sets out the ambition for community pharmacy to be better integrated and provide more clinical services, such as treatment for minor illnesses, to relieve pressures elsewhere in the NHS.A number of new clinical services have been introduced including the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service, where staff in general practices and NHS111 can refer patients to community pharmacies for advice and treatment of minor illnesses.

Department for Education

National School Breakfast Programme

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools had signed-up to receive support from the National School Breakfast Programme as of 14 February 2022.

Will Quince: The government is committed to continuing support for school breakfast clubs and the department is investing up to £24 million to continue its national programme until July 2023. This funding will support up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas, meaning that thousands of children from low-income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better support their attainment, wellbeing, and readiness to learn.The enrolment process is still underway for schools that wish to sign up to the programme. The figures released by Family Action on 23 March 2022 show that 1,800 schools have signed up to the school breakfast programme. The department will work with the supplier Family Action to continue to monitor the data and consider suitable opportunities to share more information on the programme as it progresses.

Adoption

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that (a) administrative and (b) communication support is available to maintain relationships between birth and adoptive families (i) during and (ii) after child adoption processes where safe and appropriate.

Will Quince: Local authorities have a legal duty to provide a comprehensive adoption service.This specifically includes 'Assistance, including mediation services, in relation to arrangements for contact between an adoptive child and a natural parent, natural sibling, former guardian or a related person of the adoptive child.'As set out in our ‘Adoption Strategy: achieving excellence everywhere’, the department will be working with Regional Adoption Agencies to develop and trial what good practice around contact looks like, with a view to setting national standards in this area. This will include working closely with birth parents and those with lived experience.

Special Educational Needs

Matt Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in state schools have (a) an EHC plan and (b) SEN but no EHC plan.

Will Quince: In January 2021, there were 325,600 pupils in state schools with an education, health and care (EHC) plan. There were a further 1,083,100 pupils with special educational needs (SEN) but no EHC plan (also referred to as SEN support). The data is published in the ‘Special Educational Needs in England’ National Statistics publication available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england.

Special Educational Needs: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Education and Health Care Plans were requested by parents in (a) York and (b) York Central constituency; and of those how many were signed off as agreed by City of York Council for pupils (i) York and (ii) York Central constituency.

Will Quince: York local authority received 215 requests for education, health and care (EHC) plan assessments during 2020. 95.1% of assessments carried out during 2020 resulted in an EHC plan being made. These figures are from the annual publication available to view here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans. We do not hold figures on EHC plan assessments for young people living in York Central constituency.

Children: Day Care

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made for children aged (a) 0-two, (b) two to four and (c) four or over, of the proportion of (i) children receiving some childcare from their grandparents and (ii) grandparents providing some childcare for their grandchildren, in each of the last ten years.

Will Quince: Information on the proportion of children receiving childcare from grandparents is collected in the annual childcare and early years survey of parents. Data from each of the past ten years can be found in the attached table.In surveys taking place up to 2018, interviews were conducted with parents of children aged 0 to 14-years-old. For the 2019 survey, interviews were conducted with parents of children aged 0 to 4-years-old.The 2020 survey did not take place because the COVID-19 outbreak restricted the survey methodology, as it is conducted using face-to-face interviews. Fieldwork for the 2021 childcare and early years survey of parents is currently underway with parents of children aged 0 to 14-years-old. The latest published data is for the 2019 survey.The department does not hold information on the proportion of grandparents providing childcare.142450 table (pdf, 12.1KB)

Special Educational Needs

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the average distance children with SEND have to travel to attend their setting.

Will Quince: The information requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.Most pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) attend mainstream education (54% of pupils with an education, health and care plan (EHCP) and 89% of pupils with an EHCP or SEND support).Local authorities must provide free home to school transport for children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest suitable school and would be unable to walk there because it is beyond walking distance (2 miles for children under 8 and 3 miles for children aged 8 and over). They must also provide this if it is because of their SEND, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe to do so.Where a child has an EHCP, the school named in the plan will normally be their nearest suitable school for transport purposes.

Universities: Industrial Disputes

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help support students who have been disrupted by industrial action called by unions representing university staff.

Michelle Donelan: Students have suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic, and any further disruption caused to their learning is wholly unfair and completely unnecessary.Young people have already sacrificed enough during this pandemic and students should be able to enjoy the full university experience. Students deserve good quality, face-to-face teaching from their universities, and we need a resolution that delivers this for them as soon as possible. It is what the vast majority of teaching staff want, and what students rightly expect.The Office for Students (OfS) have wide-ranging powers to ensure students’ interests are protected, and they expect providers to do all they can to avoid disruption to students. The OfS has written to universities to make their expectations clear: universities must abide by the conditions of registration and ensure they meet obligations under consumer protection law in relation to the impact of industrial action.Higher education providers are autonomous and responsible for the pay and pension provision of their staff. While government has no direct role in the disputes, we have been clear that we want this disagreement resolved in a way that avoids further disrupting students’ learning. We strongly encourage a resolution that delivers good value for students, staff, and providers.Students who have complaints about their higher education experience should contact their provider in the first instance. Where a student remains unsatisfied once they have been to their provider, they can approach the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) who can consider their complaint. The OIA has published a guide to handling complaints arising from significant disruption: https://www.oiahe.org.uk/providers/handling-complaints-arising-from-significant-disruption.

Schools: Antisemitism

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Community Safety Trust’s Antisemitic Incidents Report January-June 2021 which reported a 491 per cent rise in antisemitic hate incidents in schools compared to the same period the previous year, what steps his Department is taking to tackle rising levels of antisemitism in schools

Mr Robin Walker: The government is clear that antisemitism, as with all forms of bullying and hatred, is abhorrent and has no place in our schools.In response to the reported increase in such incidents during an escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in May 2021, the former Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend for South Staffordshire, wrote to schools to remind them of their responsibilities to deal with antisemitic incidents with due seriousness as well as their legal duties regarding political impartiality. On 17 February 2022, the department published further guidance on political impartiality in schools that helps to ensure educational initiatives in schools are not politically biased or one-sided. This guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.The government continues to take action to support schools tackle all forms of bullying, including antisemitism. Our preventing and tackling bullying guidance sets out that schools should develop a consistent approach to monitoring bullying incidents and evaluating the effectiveness of their approaches. It also directs schools to organisations who can provide support with tackling bullying related to race, religion and nationality, as well as sexual harassment and sexual bullying. Between August 2021 and March 2022, the department provided over £1.1 million of funding to five anti-bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying.The government has also supported Holocaust education for many years and is fully committed to continuing this support. In recognition of its importance, the Holocaust is the only historic event which is compulsory within the national curriculum for history at key stage 3. Effective teaching about the Holocaust can support pupils to learn about the possible consequences of antisemitism and extremism, to understand how society can prevent the repeat of such a catastrophe. The department provides funding for several programmes to support school pupils’ and teachers’ understanding of the Holocaust.The department continues to publish information, guidance and support for teachers and school leaders on how to challenge radical views, including racist and discriminatory beliefs, on Educate Against Hate.

Secondary Education: Hackney

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has had discussions with representatives of Hackney-based secondary schools on student protection and welfare.

Will Quince: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has not had discussions with representatives of Hackney based secondary schools on student protection and welfare.Department officials have recently met with representatives of Hackney local authority and have been advised of the local authorities’ intention to disseminate safeguarding guidance about searches and protocols to all schools.

Schools: Admissions

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that pupils with disabilities are given preferential treatment during the selection of school places to ensure their access needs are met.

Will Quince: The Equality Act 2010 places a duty on all schools to support disabled children and young people. It includes making reasonable adjustments to prevent them from suffering discrimination and supplying additional aids and services to assist with individuals’ disabilities.Parents of children who do not have education, health and care plan (EHCP) apply for a school place using local school admission arrangements. Each school has an admission authority to set its admission arrangements, which include the criteria that it will use to allocate places in the event that more applications are received than there are places available. Where a school receives more applications than it has places available, places must be allocated in accordance with the school’s published admissions criteria (also known as oversubscription criteria). School admission processes must not discriminate against or disadvantage disabled children, or those with special educational needs. Admission authorities may give priority within their oversubscription criteria to children who have a particular social or medical need to attend their school. They may also prioritise pupils based on the parent’s medical or social needs (for instance, limited mobility and the need to take their infant child to a nearby school). They must set out clearly how they define social and medical need and what supporting evidence will be required, for example a letter from a doctor or social worker.Furthermore, each local authority must have a fair access protocol to ensure that unplaced and vulnerable children, and those who are having difficulty securing a place in year, are allocated a place as quickly as possible. The School Admissions Code lists children with special educational needs (but without an EHCP), disabilities or medical conditions, as one of the groups of children for whom a place can be sought via the fair access protocols, where necessary.If the local authority issues an EHCP, it also has a statutory duty to secure the provision specified in the plan. This includes responsibility for securing a place at the school, college or early years setting named on the EHCP. The local authority must consult with the requested school or post-16 institution in order to establish that the placement would meet the needs of the child or young person, would be compatible with the efficient education of others and would be an efficient use of its own resources. If these criteria are all met, the local authority must name that school in the final EHCP and the school or institution will be required to admit the child or young person.

Children: Speech and Language Disorders

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of how the Recovery Premium benefit children with a speech and language difficulty or whose development in speaking and understanding language has been adversely affected as a result of the covid-19 outbreak and associated schools closures.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how the £1 billion allocated to schools as part of the Recovery Premium will be spent to help children’s speech and language.

Will Quince: The £300 million Recovery Premium for this academic year is additional funding to help schools deliver evidence-based approaches to support education recovery. In October 2021, as part of our broader Spending Review settlement, we announced an extension to the Recovery Premium, worth £1 billion for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years.Recovery Premium eligibility builds on that of pupil premium, but school leaders have flexibility to use the funding to support any pupil where a need is identified, including those with speech and language difficulties. Schools are expected to spend their Recovery Premium, alongside their pupil premium, in line with the Education Endowment Foundation’s recommendation to fund activities that support high quality teaching, provide targeted academic support, and address non-academic barriers to success in school, such as attendance, behaviour, and social and emotional support.Schools should therefore use their funding to assess and address immediate needs, such as those relating to speech and language difficulties, as well as longer-term strategic improvements, such as boosting the quality of oracy teaching.We are also investing up to £180 million of recovery support in the early years sector, with new programmes focusing on key areas such as speech and language development for the youngest children. This includes:an expansion of the professional development programme, which has a focus on early language and mathematics, as well as personal, social, and emotional developmenta significant expansion in the number of staff in group-based providers, and childminders, with an accredited level 3 Special Educational Needs Coordinator qualificationprogrammes to train early years practitioners to support parents with the home learning environment, and improve children’s early language, social and emotional development, andthe Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme, aimed at reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development.The NELI programme includes training for staff on identifying speech and language difficulties, and is proven to help children make around 3 months of additional progress.

Childminding: Coronavirus

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to next review its covid-19 guidance in relation to childminding settings.

Will Quince: Keeping children and staff safe is the department’s utmost priority and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have listened carefully to the latest scientific and medical advice when developing guidance. The department has recently reviewed and updated its guidance for childminders with the UK Health Security Agency. This guidance is available here: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2022/03/18/childminders-can-continue-to-operate-from-home-if-someone-in-their-house-has-tested-positive-for-covid/.Since 17 March 2022, childminders can continue to childmind in their homes if someone who lives with them has tested positive or has COVID-19 symptoms.Childminders are advised to follow the steps below to reduce the risk of onward transmission:The person who has tested positive or has COVID-19 symptoms should avoid contact with the children being cared for in the setting.Where possible, use separate toilet and handwashing facilities. If this is not possible, maintain extra cleaning and hygiene routines, particularly after the person has used the facilities.Notify parents, carers, and any assistants that someone has tested positive or has COVID-19 symptoms, as soon as reasonably possible and maintain open communication with them throughout.Consider the need to reduce the spread of COVID-19 with mitigations, such as ventilation and extra cleaning and hygiene routines. They should be applied where practical and safe to do so. Additional information on how to stay safe and help prevent the spread of COVID-19 is available in the guidance published by the Cabinet Office here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-19-coronavirus-restrictions-what-you-can-and-cannot-do?priority-taxon=774cee22-d896-44c1-a611-e3109cce8eae?utm_source=17%20March%202022%20C19&utm_medium=Daily%20Email%20C19&utm_campaign=DfE%20C19.Comply with health and safety law by reviewing your risk assessment. The risk assessment must demonstrate that the provision of childcare in your setting is safe, and how you will put into place any additional but proportionate measures.Childminders can also consider using alternative places to operate, such as other childminders’ houses, where possible.

Higher Education: Special Educational Needs

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to increase access to specialist higher education facilities for people with special educational needs and disabilities.

Michelle Donelan: This government believes it is important that disabled students receive an appropriate level of support wherever and whatever they choose to study and is committed to ensuring that all students with disabilities receive the support they need to enable them to study alongside their fellow students on an equal basis.The government expects all higher education (HE) providers to fulfil their responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to be making reasonable adjustments for all disabled higher education students.Wherever possible, disabled students should expect to have their needs met through inclusive learning practices and individual reasonable adjustments made by their HE provider.The support students need will relate to their impairment or impairments. The attached table shows numbers of disabled students by impairment type in the 2020/21 academic year.Disabled Students’ Allowance is available in addition to the reasonable adjustments made by HE providers for the provision of more specialist support such as British Sign Language interpretation. 141916_table (pdf, 184.9KB)

Children: Day Care

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has plans to restart the Childcare and early years survey of parents run by his Department.

Will Quince: Fieldwork for the childcare and early years survey of parents (2021) is currently underway. The official statistics have a provisional release date of July 2022.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

India and Pakistan: Development Aid

Simon Hoare: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much overseas aid her Department has allocated to (a) India and (b) Pakistan in each year between 2015 and year end 2022; and what amount will be allocated to (a) India and (b) Pakistan over the next five years.

Vicky Ford: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) brought together the Department for International Development (DFID) and Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on 2 September 2020. As the principal distributor of Official Development Assistance (ODA), these figures represent DFID expenditure until 2019, after which they represent FCDO expenditure.YearDepartmentODA to IndiaODA to Pakistan2015DFID£150.391m£351.379m2016DFID£54.209m£423.927m2017DFID£47.691m£366.579m2018DFID£40.345m£291.457m2019DFID£15.417m£259.770m2020FCDO£49.097m£179.059mSince 2015, the UK has given no financial aid to the Government of India. Instead, our development partnership with India is based on sharing skills, expertise, and development capital investments that help the poor and generate returns on our investment; our work reduces poverty, tackles climate change, and creates new partners and markets for the UK. To date £80.2 million of our ODA investment has been returned to HMG.Between 2014 and 2019 Pakistan was the single largest recipient of bilateral UK aid. There has since been a downward trend in ODA funding to Pakistan from the high point of 2016 to reflect Pakistan's lower middle-income status.FCDO will publish further details on our ODA spending in 2021 when this spending is finalised and will publish annual ODA spending statistics as these are finalised over the next five years. We are unable to provide projected future ODA allocations.

Saudi Arabia: Politics and Government

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the (a) political and (b) humanitarian situation in Saudi Arabia.

Amanda Milling: Saudi Arabia is a major political, energy, diplomatic and economic power in the Middle East. The UK has vital national security and prosperity interests in maintaining and developing our longstanding relationship with Saudi Arabia.We have seen positive social change on women's rights, sports, entertainment and cultural spaces under Vision 2030, the Kingdom's socio-economic reform programme. However, Saudi Arabia remains a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Human Rights Priority Country, particularly because of the use of the death penalty, freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief.

UN Security Council: Membership

Simon Hoare: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what mechanisms exist to (a) suspend or (b) remove a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Vicky Ford: There is no mechanism to suspend or remove a permanent member specifically from the UN Security Council (UNSC). Suspension or expulsion of any Member State from the United Nations itself requires a decision of the UN General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. Any permanent member of the UNSC can therefore veto its own - or others' - proposed suspension or expulsion.

Ministry of Defence

Warships: Procurement

Dr James Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to maximise UK content in its future vessel orders.

Mr Ben Wallace: The National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh set out the 30-year cross-Government shipbuilding pipeline. It is a substantial opportunity to create a baseline of volume to encourage industry investment in facilities, infrastructure, innovation and skills. The National Shipbuilding Office will seek to maximise the opportunity for UK industry in this pipeline, wherever our procurement law and international obligations allow, by championing UK shipbuilding, ensuring that our procurements deliver on the policy objectives set out in the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh and creating opportunity for UK shipbuilders wherever possible. In addition, for Ministry of Defence (MOD) vessels a minimum of 20% weighting for Social Value will be applied to ensure our investments leave a lasting legacy. MOD retains the right, subject to National security needs, to commission ships to be built in UK yards as we have done with type 26 and type 31. The Refresh also recognises that the value of the shipbuilding sector goes well beyond just building hulls and is spread throughout the entire supporting supply chain. The National Shipbuilding Office will therefore work to encourage UK content for all parts of the shipbuilding enterprise, including: refit and repair, the through-life support to sustain our ships; the battle-winning technologies, systems and sub-systems which underpin our capability; and across the supply chain.

National Shipbuilding Office

Dr James Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has for the National Shipbuilding Office to work in partnership with industry.

Mr Ben Wallace: The National Shipbuilding Office (NSO) is already working closely with industry and will continue to do so through the implementation of the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh. The key forum to do this will be through the Shipbuilding Enterprise for Growth (SEG), an integrated and collaborative community with membership from across the UK shipbuilding enterprise. The SEG will be co-chaired by the NSO's Chief Executive Officer and the Director of the Society of Maritime Industries. It will identify opportunities for members to work together, outside of any competitive procurement processes, to take action which will deliver tangible improvements to the shipbuilding enterprise. In addition, the first industry secondee has recently joined the NSO, with further secondees expected to join in the near future.

Ukraine: Armed Forces

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the (a) size and (b) location of Azov territorial defence units in Ukraine.

James Heappey: As of 23 March 2022, the size of the Azov Battalion is estimated to be 1,000 personnel, based on open-source reporting.The Azov Battalion is a component of the Ukrainian National Guard, and part of its Eastern Operational Territorial Command; its primary area of responsibility being Mariupol.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Habitual Residence Test

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Risk Review Team reviews cases in which no fraud is suspected but where it is believed there is a risk that the claimant does not satisfy the Habitual Residence Test.

David Rutley: The Risk Review Team only reviews cases where intelligence has identified a high risk of fraud. That may include claimants who don’t satisfy the Habitual Residence Test as they will have been receiving benefit they are not entitled to.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Drinking Water Inspectorate: Research

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Drinking Water Inspectorate’s contract reference 298893/1045616, which research organisation has been awarded the contract; what the contract’s agreed value is; and when the resulting study is due to be submitted to the Inspectorate.

Rebecca Pow: The Invitation to Tender closed on 17 March 2022 and is currently being evaluated by the technical evaluators. We received six bids and the consensus meeting is due to take place on 28 March 2022. As usual, any resulting contract will be redacted/published in Contracts Finder in due course, within the permissible 30 day period.

Birds of Prey: West Midlands

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help support the reintroduction of (a) the white-tailed sea eagle and (b) other endangered raptor species in the West Midlands.

Rebecca Pow: The Government committed in the 25 Year Environment Plan to providing opportunities for the reintroduction of formerly native species where there are clear environment and socio-economic benefits. We will shortly be establishing an England Species Reintroductions Task Force to provide expert, evidence-based views on potential species for conservation translocation and reintroduction in England. The Government is supporting a wide range of successful and ongoing reintroductions and translocations for raptors. Defra’s Hen Harrier Action Plan, published in January 2016, includes six specific actions to achieve a self-sustaining hen harrier population in England. Both Forestry England and Defra have supported a project to reintroduce white-tailed eagles to the Isle of Wight. Forestry England is also in the process of launching a feasibility study into the reintroduction of golden eagle into England. As a result of decades of conservation work including reintroductions and increased protections, many birds of prey such as the red kite, marsh harrier and white-tailed eagle have been helped off the UK Red List for birds.

Food Supply

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help strengthen national resilience by increasing domestic food production in the UK.

Victoria Prentis: The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response. Our high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 74% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. These figures have changed little over the last 20 years.Strong domestic food production is an important factor in our food security. The UK enjoys considerable self-sufficiency in food, with production to supply ratios of nearly 100 percent in poultry, carrots and swedes, and we also produce 88% of all the cereals that we need. In addition, UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply. The Government is also supporting farmers in England to become more efficient and has recently awarded grants of £48.5 million through the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund, helping boost productivity at this critical time.Recognising the importance of food production, the Government has set out a legal obligation on the Government to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report was published in December 2021. It recognised the contribution made by British farmers to our resilience, and the importance of strong domestic production to our food security. This report will serve as an evidence base for future policy work.

Food Supply: Ukraine

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he plans to take to help ensure that the UK is able to manages its food supply in the event of potential global food shortages as a result of the war in Ukraine and worsening of food shortage in developing countries.

Victoria Prentis: Our food import dependency on the Eastern Europe region is very low. We do not expect any significant direct impact on overall UK food supply as a result of the conflict in Ukraine. Defra is well-versed in responding to disruption if the dependencies captured were to lead to food supply disruption. This was successfully demonstrated in response to unprecedented disruption to both supply and demand throughout COVID-19. Our extensive work in this space has reinforced the long-standing view that the most effective response to food supply disruption is industry-led, with appropriate support and enablement from Government. Defra has been engaging with industry via various forums to understand the impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on individual industries and supply chains in Defra's sectors. We will continue this engagement and monitoring. International commodity prices are heavily influenced by factors such as energy costs and exchange rates. Recent pressures have been sustained and we have seen food price inflation rise to 5.1% in the year to February, up from 4.4% in the year to January. Events in Ukraine and the impact of that on energy prices is likely to have further impacts which we are monitoring closely.

Agriculture: Government Assistance

Alicia Kearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to support farmers in the context of increases in the cost of fuel, fertiliser and feed.

Victoria Prentis: We are very aware of the significant turbulence in international commodity markets following Russian’s invasion of Ukraine and are closely monitoring the market situation. Agricultural commodity prices have always been strongly correlated to the price of energy. Farmers face the challenge of rising inputs costs, particularly fertiliser costs, due to the sharp increase in the price of gas. The solution will require us to pioneer new technologies to manufacture more organic based fertiliser products, and to rediscover more older, more established techniques such as using nitrogen fixing legumes and clovers as an alternative to fertiliser. We are also seeing high costs for inputs including red diesel and animal feed. We are working with the industry to identify where mitigations are available and continue to keep the situation under review.

Marine Stewardship Council

John McNally: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the accessibility of the Marine Stewardship Council ecolabel to small-scale fisheries.

John McNally: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the views of stakeholders in respect of the Marine Stewardship Council’s certification of unsustainable fisheries.

Victoria Prentis: The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) label is a voluntary initiative and operates independently of the Government. Defra has no plans to take forward an assessment of the accessibility of the MSC label to small-scale fisheries. Further to the Government's response to the Environmental Audit Committee's 'Sustainable Seas' report of 2019, Defra continues to encourage non-governmental organisations and individuals to participate in the frequent stakeholder consultations that MSC holds. The MSC standard has evolved positively over time and constructive comments will help ensure this continues to happen. The Government is fully committed to sustainable fishing. Fisheries Management Plans will be a key tool through which we will work with industry to improve the sustainability and management of our fisheries, making it easier for the fishing sector then to secure independent accreditation if they wish to do so. We are actively discussing this issue with stakeholders across the seafood sector as part of the public consultation on the draft Joint Fisheries Statement.

Farms: Educational Visits

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many educational access payments have been made to farmers in the last five years; and what estimate he has made of the number that will be made in financial years (a) 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23.

Victoria Prentis: Educational access funding is available to farmers in England through the Environmental Stewardship (ES) and Countryside Stewardship (CS) schemes. Educational access provisions will remain in the scheme until its final application round in 2023 (for agreements starting 1 January 2024). Defra would encourage all farmers and land managers to take up educational access options under CS where possible. The total number of claims including educational access that have been paid over the past five years (England only) can be found in the table below: Financial YearTotal number of claims2016/20175942017/20185002018/20194922019/20203892020/2021212 Claims are still being processed for 2021/2022 financial year, but to date 187 educational access payments have been made. Due to the effect COVID-19 restrictions may have had on the number of visits that can be undertaken, and a large increase in the number of new CS agreements that include the option of educational access funding, it is very hard to predict with accuracy the number of educational access payments that will be made for the remainder of the 2021/2022 and the 2022/2023 financial years.

Trade Agreements: New Zealand

John Lamont: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) animal welfare and (b) environmental management protections in the comprehensive trade deal between the UK and New Zealand.

Victoria Prentis: The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the UK and New Zealand includes ground-breaking provisions on both animal welfare and environmental protection The forward-looking provisions in the animal welfare chapter are largely unprecedented in other FTAs. We have secured non-regression and non-derogation clauses on animal welfare. This means both countries are committed to not lowering their animal welfare standards or make exceptions for their producers in a manner that materially affects trade. The chapter includes strong commitments to work with New Zealand bilaterally and in international fora to progress animal welfare standards. The Environment chapter demonstrates our global leadership on climate and environmental protection. It will liberalise tariffs on the largest list of environmental goods in any FTA to date and encourage trade and investment in low carbon services and technology. It includes commitments to tackle environmental challenges such as illegal wildlife trade, air pollution, marine pollution and litter, and promote biodiversity, sustainable agriculture, and the transition to a circular economy. The chapter also affirms our commitments to implement multilateral environmental agreements, including the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and Paris Agreement.

Nature Conservation: Climate Change

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Adaptation Committee’s recommendations on page 28 of the Climate Change Committee's report of June 2021 entitled, Progress in adapting to climate change: 2021 Report to Parliament, what plans his Department has to take steps to mitigate the effects on nature conservation of a two degrees Celsius warming scenario.

Jo Churchill: Mitigating and adapting to climate change is essential if we are to meet our historic target to halt the decline of nature by 2030. The UK Climate Change Act 2008 requires the Government to prepare, on a five-yearly cycle, a UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA), followed by a National Adaptation Programme (NAP), setting out actions to address the risks identified in the CCRA.The Climate Change Committee's Independent Assessment of UK Climate Risk offers a detailed and up to date insight into the growing risks and opportunities the UK and its natural environment faces from climate change, from terrestrial and freshwater habitats to soil health and natural carbon stores and to agriculture.This evidence has informed our third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3), which we laid in Parliament on 17 January 2022. The evidence will inform greater ambition and action on enhancing resilience to the impacts of climate change through the third NAP (NAP3) and highlight gaps where the government needs to go further. NAP3 will address the risks and opportunities for a 2ºC warming scenario, to build a more resilient country, with a focus on enhanced ambition, implementation and evaluation.Restoring our natural habitats has a number of potential benefits for helping support the resilience of ecosystems to climate change. For example, improving the condition and diversity within, and connectivity between, our wildlife habitats will help species survive in their existing locations and allow them to move towards more suitable climates where necessary. This work is supported by policies such as the nature recovery network and Local Nature Recovery Strategies, as well as the policies set out in the England Peat and Trees Action Plans. We have also invested significant funding into nature, including over £750 million in the Nature for Climate Fund and £80 million through the Green Recovery Challenge Fund.The environmental land management schemes will be key mechanisms for enhancing our natural landscape's resilience and its adaptive benefits to society, by rewarding farmers for their roles as environmental stewards and improving the resilience of their agri-businesses as well.

Fishing Catches

John McNally: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will take steps to (a) mitigate against and (b) effectively monitor bycatch in high-risk fisheries.

Victoria Prentis: We recognise that accidental bycatch in fisheries is one of the greatest threats faced by sensitive marine species such as dolphins and seabirds, and we remain fully committed to tackling this issue. The Fisheries Act 2020 and Joint Fisheries Statement have an “ecosystem objective” which includes an objective to minimise and, where possible, eliminate incidental catches of sensitive marine species. Since 2020, Defra has funded Clean Catch UK, a research programme which is developing and trialling a range of bycatch monitoring and mitigation measures in Cornwall (a known high-risk area for sensitive species bycatch). This programme has developed a bycatch self-reporting mobile application validated by observers and electronic monitoring and an online ‘Bycatch Mitigation Hub’ with information on different approaches to reduce bycatch. In addition, we are working with the fishing industry to trial various innovative technologies to reduce cetacean bycatch. The UK Government funds a comprehensive and well-respected bycatch monitoring programme which provides essential observer data on incidents of sensitive species bycatch. The programme focusses primarily on gear types with a high expected or known risk of sensitive species bycatch. A new contract for the bycatch monitoring programme is expected to begin in April 2022.

Fishing Catches

John McNally: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that the Joint Fisheries Statement expected in November 2022 contains a commitment to establishing specific, time-bound and measurable objectives to minimise and where possible eliminate bycatch of sensitive species.

Victoria Prentis: We recognise that accidental bycatch in fisheries is one of the greatest threats faced by sensitive marine species such as dolphins and seabirds, and we remain fully committed to tackling this issue. The Fisheries Act 2020 and Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS) have an “ecosystem objective” which includes an objective to minimise and, where possible, eliminate incidental catches of sensitive marine species. The JFS is out to consultation until 12 April 2022. After the consultation, we will summarise the responses and place this summary on the UK Government and all devolved administrations’ websites.

Deposit Return Schemes

Cherilyn Mackrory: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress his Department has made on introducing a Deposit Return Scheme.

Jo Churchill: A second consultation on introducing a deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland was held last year. Government is analysing the responses to that consultation, with a view to publishing a government response soon.

Home Office

Visas: Tourism

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing low cost visitor visas to support the recovery of the tourist economy following the covid-19 pandemic.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office recognises the importance of visitors to the UK economy and so has kept fees for Short-Term Visit Visas below the estimated cost of processing an application. Income from fees charged for immigration and nationality applications plays a vital role in our ability to run a sustainable Migration and Borders system.The visa fee will normally represent a relatively small cost within the context of the overall decision to visit the UK, once costs of travel, accommodation and currency fluctuations are taken into account.It is worth noting many coming from key markets for our tourism sector, including North America and Europe, are non-visa nationals so do not need to apply for a visa in advance of travelling here for a visit of up to 6 months, with EEA nationals and nationals of Australia, Canada, Singapore, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and the United States of America able to use our e-gates (Where available) on arrival in the UK.

Grenfell Tower Inquiry

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department will publish its next quarterly progress report on the implementation of recommendations from phase 1 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, to follow the previous report of September 2021; and if she will make a statement.

Tom Pursglove: The Government intends to publish the next progress report on the implementation of the recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase One report in April.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Body Searches: Hackney

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with Hackney Council, on the strip search of a 15-year-old black girl in a Hackney-based school conducted by the Metropolitan Police.

Kemi Badenoch: A meeting with Hackney Council has been requested by the Minister for Local Government.

Multiple Occupation: Council Tax

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether an impact assessment was conducted on the referrals local authorities can make on Houses of Multiple Occupancy for council tax revaluation.

Kemi Badenoch: There is no impact assessment required for referrals. The Valuation Office Agency has a statutory duty to maintain an accurate Council Tax list. The Agency acts on information received, including from local authorities and other taxpayers, if it considers that a property’s assessment may be incorrect or needs to be reviewed.

Multiple Occupation: Council Tax

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions officials in his Department have had with representatives of local authorities that are referring Houses of Multiple Occupancy for council tax revaluation.

Kemi Badenoch: The Department has not had any discussions with representatives of local authorities with regard to the referral, to the Valuation Office Agency, of requests seeking a review of the council tax banding of Houses of Multiple Occupation.

Multiple Occupation: Council Tax

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the average increase in council tax for Houses of Multiple Occupancy once those properties are reclassified as multiple properties by the Valuation Office.

Kemi Badenoch: The Department does not hold data on the increase in council tax for Houses of Multiple Occupancy following a banding review. The responsibility for carrying out reviews of council tax bands rests with the Valuation Office Agency which has a statutory duty to maintain an accurate Council Tax list and acts independently of Ministers. Decisions on the levels of council tax are matters for individual councils.

Treasury

Ukraine: Humanitarian Aid

John McNally: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to negotiate with European counterparts to streamline regulation to allow vital humanitarian aid to reach Ukrainians.

Lucy Frazer: The UK is committed to working with partners, including the EU, as well as humanitarian agencies to ensure a well-coordinated and well-funded response to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and the surrounding region. We have initiated a number of conversations with the EU and its Member States to understand their plans to ease the movement of humanitarian supplies. The EU has been working with Member States on this issue and several of them have eased their entry and exit regime to support the humanitarian effort for Ukraine. The UK Government has also introduced a simplified customs process to support the export of aid goods destined for victims of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. More information about this can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/taking-humanitarian-aid-out-of-great-britain-to-support-ukraine.